The Ultimate in Mass Distraction

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About

Distraction Entertainment is a film company created by screenwriters Nancy Froeschle and James Loos. As script writers, Nancy and James have over 24 years of experience. They have been finalists in the coveted Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting and the Austin Heart of Film Competitions; have had scripts optioned and in development with producers in Los Angeles, Portland, New York and Cambridge, Ontario; have written in genres from comedy to thriller to historical; and are currently working as writers for hire.

James and Nancy met in 2002 when they applied for the same screenwriting gig. Ironically, both were hired, but the project fell through. Good news is they’ve remained great friends, founded a critique group that has been meeting for 12 years, and have collaborated on and co-written multiple scripts. In 2012, Distraction Entertainment produced its first film, Edwin and Maudey, a short written by Nancy.

Both Nancy and James have a great love of story telling. Their forte is finding the heart of a story, then building a world within which they can visually reveal that heart via compelling characters, subtext, great dialogue and plot, and a sense of irony.

[nan-see fresh-lee]nounA writer for hire since 2012, Nancy adapted Captain For Dark Mornings from book to screen for LA Director Scott McCullough. In 2013, she was hired by Insurrection Films LLC to adapt the book Odette, World War Two’s Darling Spy into a feature script titled MyLise’. Currently, she and a co-writer are working with an LA producer to pen a psychological thriller. Her spec thriller, The Restoration, was under option with Cook Street Productions. She and Distraction cohort James Loos co-wrote Vigil Auntie, a buddy comedy previously in development in Portland, Oregon. Her WWI script, The Greater Glory, was a 2008 Nicholl Fellowships Finalist. Other of her scripts have placed in the Nicholl, PAGE, Scriptapalooza, and American Zoetrope contests. Her short, Edwin and Maudey, was filmed in 2012, with award winning director Mischa Webley. Nancy also leads workshops, teaches screenwriting to middle school students and can be found on her laptop, drinking chai in her favorite comfy chair in NE Portland.

[jeyms loos]nounJames, a real estate guy by day, has written a variety of features, which have placed in the Nicholl Fellowships, PAGE, Scriptapalooza, Creative World Awards, Pacific Northwest Writing Awards and Oregon Film Festival Awards. His buddy comedy, Vigil Auntie, written with Distraction partner Nancy Froeschle, was in development with a Portland producer. James and co-writer Steve Schoen garnered a finalist spot in the 2011 Austin Heart of Film Competition for their thriller, Missing, and are now working with an LA producer on a conspiracy thriller. James can be found at one of thousands of coffee shops in Portland – trembling from caffeine overload.

[dɪ-stræk-shuhn]noun
1. a thing that serves as diversion or entertainment.
2. an interruption; obstacle to concentration.
[en-ter-teyn-muhnt]noun
1. agreeable diversion for the mind.
2. a thing affording pleasure or amusement.
3. the ultimate weapon of mass distraction.

My LiséFor love of country, she enlisted. For love of family, she endured.

Captured by the Gestapo during WWII, Odette Sansom (Resistance code name Lisé) endures physical and psychological torture in Fresnes Prison and Ravensbruck Concentration Camp to make it home again to her children. A hero of the British people, she was the first woman awarded the George Cross. Read a sample.

Recent widower David Kenyon must fight through his grief and learn what it means to be a father when his daughters are kidnapped by a mysterious stranger during a fire at a Renaissance fair. Read a sample.

News and Musings

War Writer For Hire I didn’t set out to write scripts about war, but my Nicholl winning WWI script, The Greater Glory, has propelled me in that direction. In 2013 I was hired to write a Vietnam War script based on the book Captain For Dark Mornings by Shad Meshad. It is the true story of a Psych Officer, who ... Continue reading →

Welcome to Distraction Entertainment Of all the names in the universe, we picked this. Why? Because it’s a name which represents who we imagine ourselves to be. Is it truly who we are, or just the best we could come up with on short notice? Or even long notice?
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